Small wood burner

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Small wood burner
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joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 1:24 pm Post subject:

Ty Gwyn wrote:

Adding a liner is not going to alter the shape,but may correct the draw,

Does it have a good cowl?

It's the draw that's the issue, he thinks that the chimney opens out too large for the fire which prevents it drawing correctly. He may replace the cowl or not depending what he finds

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 2:02 pm Post subject:

re burner size based on a variety of commercial and hobo stoves burning wood my most important criteria are

good sized and shaped door/s and fire box .(for all the reasons above and a few more)
about 50%bigger than the desired out put(it isnt always ash and hawthorn)
well made to a tried and tested spec
good ventilation design internally and knobs that dont get hot externally(that last bit has been a sore point on quite a few stoves)

i have used ace ones made out of a cooking oil tin and rubbish expensive ones made out of rocking horse feathers and a hint of sale of goods act.

flue and fittings are part of the stove imho and need to be safe and effective,hard to block and easy to clean.(no buzzard tragedies)

as to look ,if it does what it should ,in the place it is for ,it will be a thing of beauty whatever the materials or style.

a place for a pan or coffee pot is nice

pollyanna

Joined: 03 Nov 2012
Posts: 221

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 3:19 pm Post subject:
That reminds me. Access to chimney for sweeping without moving the stove. I kid you not, I've seen it!

roobarb

Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 139
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 5:08 pm Post subject:

Is there a reason for ripping out the radiators and not having central heating at all? Could you not get a woodburner with a back boiler for hot water and upstairs radiators? You may regret pulling out the central heating system if the woodburner doesn't heat the house like you thought.

We installed a Clearview with back boiler (heats the hot water tank and 8 radiators) in the kitchen, and manage to do some cooking on the top when its going full on. In addition we had a small Charnwood Country 4 (4kw) put into the lounge so that in the autumn/spring we could heat the living area without having to fire up the main woodburner. This really cranks out the heat and doesn't take much refuelling (it all depends on what you're burning). We have found that we still tend to light this in the winter as well as the Clearview, as it does stay cold in the living room, which is the last radiator on the system so doesn't always get very warm.

Pilsbury

Joined: 13 Dec 2004
Posts: 5645
Location: East london/Essex

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 5:12 pm Post subject:
We are so planning to have little woodburner in the front room just to take the chill off before we put http heating on for the winter and sitting round and toasting marshmallows. I would want one I can put a kettle on or a small casserole so I coukd use it to cook on should the mood take us.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 5:49 pm Post subject:

roobarb wrote:

Yes, I don't like central heating.

I've put it in in a previous house and it seemed more hassle than it's worth for the two of us. Our new house currently has an old system that needs replacing but, the way we tend to live, a couple of wood burners and a couple of electric heaters may be more comfortable and a cheaper option.

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 7:12 pm Post subject:

Just woodburners worked well for us. I kept the kitchen stove in all the time we were home, pretty much so the kitchen was warm (you can't cook on ours, though) and then just lit the teeny stove if we were going to be having an evening in front of it. We bathe in the evening rather than shower in the morning, so the bathroom was warm by the time we got out if the tub. An electric heater in the morning might be nice - it's cold getting dressed before the fire warms up! We also had an electric blanket on the bed and I had a blanket and a hot water bottle for curl to up to read if I wasn't going to be long out if bed and couldn't be bothered to light the fire just for hand an hour. You can get fancy electric throws, now too.

RichardW

Joined: 24 Aug 2006
Posts: 8443
Location: Llyn Peninsular North Wales

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 8:23 pm Post subject:

We had it as our only heat in a 35 x 12 foot caravan & now its in the main living space which is 3m x about 11m & 2.1m high.

It gets used mainly in the ends of the heating season as once its cold the rayburn goes on which is in the same area & it also heats the DHW & feeds a few small rads in the bedrooms. If it got real cold then it would top the main heat up but not needed it for that yet. Oh & also for a quick heat boost in the mornings if the rayburn is on a go slow.

On its own it gets the room to hot. We are well insulated.

Re keeping it in all night. Yes it can be kept in all night. However Why would you want to?

It lights easily, gets hot quick & burning it slow overnight just tars up the flue & stove / glass. Burn hot to keep it all clean.

Treacodactyl
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 25795
Location: Jumping on the bandwagon of opportunism

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 9:11 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the details Richard.

RichardW wrote:

Re keeping it in all night. Yes it can be kept in all night. However Why would you want to?

That's my thoughts as well, I have no plans to try and keep the fires in overnight, just get one of them going quickly the next morning.

perlogalism

Joined: 27 Nov 2009
Posts: 440
Location: Near Welshpool

Posted: Wed Sep 16, 15 9:48 pm Post subject:
I put 2 Acorn 4's in the upstairs bedrooms. They're tiny but more than enough to heat 16m2 rooms. We usually only light one in the winter and leave the room doors open to allow the heat to circulate. OK, it never gets "toasty" but then we don't want hot bedrooms. Might be worth mentioning that I've internally insulated the walls so not much heat escapes!

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15998

Posted: Thu Sep 17, 15 6:34 am Post subject:

We have a Clearview. We can cook on the top as we got a flat topped one, so I use it for long cook things like cassoulet and bolognaise sauce. Also useful for melting wax. We keep ours in all winter and it keeps the chill off the house quite well, as well as keeping the lounge warm.

Some fires are designed not to shut down. For some reason this is a design feature to prevent carbon monoxide formation, but to my mind it is dangerous as in case of a chimney fire you can't do anything about it.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46249
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Sep 18, 15 1:51 pm Post subject:
plenty of steam should do it if needs be dousing the fire a bit at a time will often work but then using the slurry to block the air intakes and shutting the door is sensible with a flue fire .this may crack some stoves. keep the flues clean and use dry wood(and no buzzards)

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 15 9:49 am Post subject:

RichardW wrote:

We have a 5kw Aga little wenlock.

You can get a decent sized log in it once its going well. Burning just wood it does not need emptying that often. Using to much paper to get it going does up the emptying needs.

This is my next door neighbors company linky if you are after quite small, dif features or UK made (in wales).

Just rang him about a Fat Penguin stove, they are lovely looking!

wellington womble

Joined: 08 Nov 2004
Posts: 15051
Location: East Midlands

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 15 11:50 am Post subject:

Treacodactyl wrote:

Thanks for the details Richard.

RichardW wrote:

Re keeping it in all night. Yes it can be kept in all night. However Why would you want to?

That's my thoughts as well, I have no plans to try and keep the fires in overnight, just get one of them going quickly the next morning.

I prefer to keep ours in overnight. I do not like cold mornings. Also, this is a stone house, terraced with neighbours with central heating. It is much, much easier to keep warm than it is to get warm, so it worked better to keep the stove ticking over. We don't have gas, and I never learned how to use the storage heaters we have. It does depend a bit on how you live though - if I'd been working out of the house a day, I'd probably have put the bathroom and kitchen radiators on and kept a fire in in the evenings.

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8957
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Fri Sep 25, 15 8:33 pm Post subject:
I'm looking for a secondhand jotul F118 for my workshop..small but quite long and takes 60cm logs. I think Morso did a similar one. Very good when the house get a power cut Trefor Owen,the potter in Maentwrog has a forty year old one in his workshop...it works a treat

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